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Mangrove Expansion Into Salt Marshes Alters Associated Faunal Communities

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Mangrove Expansion Into Salt Marshes Alters Associated Faunal Communities See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/313358137 Mangrove expansion into salt marshes alters associated faunal communities Article · February 2017 DOI: 10.1016/j.ecss.2017.02.005 CITATIONS READS 0 7 4 authors, including: Delbert 'Lee' Smee James A. Sanchez Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi 46 PUBLICATIONS 567 CITATIONS 4 PUBLICATIONS 3 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE Meredith Diskin Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi 1 PUBLICATION 0 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE All content following this page was uploaded by Meredith Diskin on 27 February 2017. The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file. All in-text references underlined in blue are added to the original document and are linked to publications on ResearchGate, letting you access and read them immediately. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 187 (2017) 306e313 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ecss Mangrove expansion into salt marshes alters associated faunal communities * Delbert L. Smee a, , James A. Sanchez a, Meredith Diskin a, Carl Trettin b a Texas A&M University e Corpus Christi, Department of Life Sciences, 6300 Ocean Dr, Corpus Christi, TX 78412, United States b US Forest Service Southern Research Station, Cordesville, SC 29434, United States article info abstract Article history: Climate change is altering the distribution of foundation species, with potential effects on organisms that Received 6 April 2016 inhabit these environments and changes to valuable ecosystem functions. In the Gulf of Mexico, black Received in revised form mangroves (Avicennia germinans) are expanding northward into salt marshes dominated by Spartina 26 January 2017 alterniflora (hereafter Spartina). Salt marshes are essential habitats for many organisms, including Accepted 3 February 2017 ecologically and economically important species such as blue crabs (Callinectes sapidus) and Penaeid Available online 4 February 2017 shrimp (e.g., Penaeus aztecus), which may be affected by vegetation changes. Black mangroves occupied higher tidal elevations than Spartina, and Spartina was present only at its lowest tidal elevations in sites Keywords: Spartina alterniflora when mangroves were established. We compared nekton and infaunal communities within monoculture Avicennia germinans stands of Spartina that were bordered by mangroves to nearby areas where mangroves had not yet Vegetation shift become established. Nekton and infaunal communities were significantly different in Spartina stands Climate change bordered by mangroves, even though salinity and temperature were not different. Overall abundance Shrimp and biomass of nekton and infauna was significantly higher in marshes without mangroves, although crabs and fish were more abundant in mangrove areas. Black mangrove expansion as well as other ongoing vegetation shifts will continue in a warming climate. Understanding how these changes affect associated species is necessary for management, mitigation, and conservation. © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Along the eastern and Gulf of Mexico coasts of the US, salt marshes are abundant and provide numerous ecosystem services Foundation species are critically important for the structure and including shoreline protection, carbon and nutrient cycling, and function of communities and for ecosystem processes such as car- essential habitat for many species (Cuddington et al., 2011). At low bon cycling and energy flow (Ellison et al., 2005). Landscape level tidal elevations, salt marshes are dominated by Spartina alterniflora shifts in the distribution and abundance of foundation species can (hereafter Spartina), an essential foundation species, that creates fundamentally alter ecosystems (Armitage et al., 2015), and are critical habitat for many ecologically and economically important presently occurring with poleward vegetation species shifts caused species (e.g., blue crabs, Callinectes sapidus and red drum, Sciaenops by climate change (Micheli et al., 2008; Osland et al., 2013; Verges ocellatus), and serves as a significant detrital input that forms the et al., 2014) in both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems (Gonzalez basis for coastal food webs (Rozas and Zimmerman, 2000; Pennings et al., 2010). For example, in North Carolina, eel grass (Zostera and Bertness, 2001; Simas et al., 2001; Stunz et al., 2002). Several marina) is being displaced by shoal grass (Halodule wrightii), other salt-tolerant species are present at higher tidal elevations reducing biodiversity in these areas (Micheli et al., 2008). A similar (e.g., Spartina patens, Batis maritima, Salicornia virginica) and also transition is underway in Texas, where shoal grass is being dis- provide habitat and shoreline protection. Primary production by placed by the tropical seagrasses Syringodium filiforme (manatee marsh plants is critical for associated fauna, and detrital inputs can grass) and Thalassia testudinum (turtle grass), significantly changing influence secondary production in adjacent systems (Peterson and seagrass-associated fauna (Ray et al., 2014). Howarth, 1987; Pennings and Bertness, 2001). In tropical climates, Spartina is outcompeted by mangrove trees that are well adapted to coastal environments (Reef et al., 2010; * Corresponding author. Simpson et al., 2013), and mangrove forests replace salt marshes E-mail address: [email protected] (D.L. Smee). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2017.02.005 0272-7714/© 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. D.L. Smee et al. / Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 187 (2017) 306e313 307 as the primary coastal wetland. Recent studies have documented a but, not in the north. Our study marshes were intertidal, experi- northward migration of black mangroves (Avicennia germinans), encing similar tidal fluctuations (~0.5 m) that are influenced by attributed to a reduction in severe freezing events over the past 3 diurnal and semi-diurnal tides but primarily by prevailing south- decades (Cavanaugh et al., 2014). Spartina also faciliates mangrove east winds. Faunal samples were collected during periods of high expansion by trapping seedlings in suitable growth areas (Peterson monthly tides in June of 2013 (10e11 and 24e25) when the highest and Bell, 2012) and by creating a warmer layer that surrounds marsh and mangrove elevations were submerged. Water temper- seedlings, protecting them from cold temperatures (Guo et al., ature was 29 C ± 0.9 C and 30 C ± 1.2, and salinity was 2013). Historically in the Western Gulf of Mexico, particularly in 32 ± 2.3 ppt and 34 ± 1.8 ppt in sites with and without mangroves Texas, black mangroves were present, but populations periodically respectively. expanded, displacing other marsh plants, and then contracted allowing those plants to reemerge in response to variations in 2.1. Vegetation survey climate, but black mangroves did not become established in sub- tropical climates that experienced winter freezes (Sherrod and We measured relative tidal elevations of Spartina and black McMillan, 1981; Sherrod and McMillan, 1985; McMillan and mangroves. Spartina will not grow in subtidal areas. Therefore, we Sherrod, 1986; Cavanaugh et al., 2014). However, the frequency of used the boundary between Spartina and benthic habitats (mud severe cold weather events has declined, and black mangroves have flats or seagrass beds in this area) as our lowest elevation point (i.e. migrated northward and expanded their distribution in the Gulf of point zero). Then, using a laser level we calculated the tidal ele- Mexico. In the Mission-Aransas Estuary near Aransas Pass, Texas, vations in which Spartina and mangroves were found relative to USA, only 65 acres of black mangrove forest were reported in the point zero along a transect from the lowest tidal elevation land- 1980s. From 1989 to 2005, black mangroves expanded and are ward. In marshes where black mangroves were established and estimated to cover between 15,000 and 21,500 acres (Montagna abundant, mangroves were present at higher elevations above et al., 2007). Expanding mangrove populations in Texas have dis- mean lower low water while Spartina was present only in a narrow placed Spartina and other plants (e.g., S. virginica, B. maritima)in band ~1e4 m wide at the lowest tidal elevations (closest to mean coastal marshes (Everitt et al., 2010; Armitage et al., 2015). lower low water). In contrast, Spartina dominated at both low and Salt marshes are among the most productive ecosystems on high tidal elevations in areas without abundant mangroves (Fig. 1, earth, and their detrital input is an important resource for many see Results). Spartina elevations are reported from sites without species in the marsh and in adjacent communities (Pennings and mangroves because Spartina elevations are compressed in Bertness, 2001; Simas et al., 2001). Like marshes, mangrove for- ests are productive and support a diversity of fauna that are ecologically and economically important (Vaslet et al., 2012). However, there are considerable differences in the composition and allocation of biomass among marshes and mangroves. Standing biomass is greater in mangroves than marshes, while marshes tend to exhibit higher net primary productivity (Alongi, 1998; Alongi et al., 2004). Organic matter turnover is lower in mangrove for- ests than marshes because ~60% of the mangrove biomass is woody (Alongi, 1998; Castaneda-Moya~ et al.,
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